Starting school for children with additional needs
Moving from kindergarten to primary school can be an exciting step for your child. If your child has a disability or additional needs, there may be extra things you need to think about.
On this page
- Planning for primary school
- Benefits of planning
- Program support group meetings
- What you may want to share with the school
- What the school may want to know
- Attending government schools
- Attending non-government schools
- More information
Our site also has specific information about different disabilities.
For an Easy English version of this topic, refer to Getting ready for primary school (PDF, 561KB).
Planning for primary school
Your child’s kindergarten teacher will work with you in the year before your child starts school to set up a plan. This will be as part of your child’s program support group.
The plan may include things like:
- reasonable adjustments or resources they may need at school
- using support groups to connect your family, health and education professionals
- collecting reports or advice that might need to be shared with the school – for example, medical reports
- contacting the school early so they have enough time to make any reasonable adjustments.
This plan is called enhanced transition.
Benefits of planning
Making a plan helps make sure:
- there are no surprises when your child starts school, because the school has all the information they need
- there are no interruptions to your child’s learning
- your child has a positive experience when they start school.
Program support group meetings
This is a meeting that plans for your child’s move to school. It includes:
- your family
- your support person or advocate, if you choose to have one
- your child’s early childhood educator
- a person from your child’s future school
- any other health or education professionals that are appropriate.
The meeting usually happens by term 3 in the year before your child starts school.
The purpose of the meeting is to talk about:
- your child’s abilities, strengths and needs
- any previous programs that have helped your child
- what your child will need at school, like adjustments or extra help
- the school’s orientation program and organise visits
- what programs or funding your child might be eligible for.
A transition coordinator will be chosen during the meeting. There will also be notes taken which record who will take responsibility for which action, and when they need to complete it.
What you may want to share with the school
You should share any information you think is important. You may want to talk about:
- your child’s interests and strengths
- any fears or anxieties about starting school
- what to do in an emergency
- tips for daily self-care
- what can help settle your child or help them respond to instructions
- how the school can help them be independent
- things that trigger stress
- what you may want to tell other families about your child
- assessment reports or medical background.
What the school may want to know
The school may ask for information, like:
- how your child’s disability or developmental delay affects their learning
- how the disability affects them taking part in school activities
- if there are any strategies to help them move to school
- what programs they’ve used in the past year
- if there’s anything else that would help in making a smooth move to school.
Attending government schools
Every student has the right to attend their local zoned school. Students with disability have the same right to enrol in their local school as students without disability.
All schools must make reasonable adjustments so that students with disability can access the curriculum on the same basis as other students. Most Victorian students with disability and high needs attend local schools.
You can also apply to a local school that is not your zoned school. Read information about how these applications are prioritised.
You may choose to seek enrolment for your child at a specialist school for students with disability and high needs, provided the child is eligible for enrolment and there are available places at the school.
All Victorian government schools get help to support students with disability or developmental delays.
This may be through:
- the student resource package – this is the standard way government schools are funded
- Tier 2 Disability Inclusion school-level funding
- student support services – a group of health professionals such as psychologists, speech pathologists and social workers
- programs and resources.
Read about types of government schools and learn how to choose and enrol in a government school.
Attending non-government schools
If your child is starting at a Catholic or independent school, you should contact the school for advice on how they can support your child.
A program support group may still be set up for your child.
More information
If you need more information, speak to your child’s kindergarten or future school.
You can also find resources and information on AllPlay Learn, a program created in partnership with Deakin University.
Education & trainingParents & carers
Updated 26 March 2026
About the VIC Government
- The Premier and ministers
- Find a Vic Gov department, agency or service
- Strategies and policies
- Inquiries and royal commissions
Grants and programs
Jobs and careers
Arts, culture and heritage
Business and the workplace
- Mentally Healthy Workplaces Framework
- Portable Long Service Authority
- Victoria’s racing industry
- Workforce Inspectorate Victoria
- Liquor licensing, sale and supply
Communities
- Children
- First Peoples - State Relations
- Finding records
- Gender equality & women’s leadership
- LGBTIQA+ equality
- Multicultural communities
- Seniors Online
- Veterans support and commemoration
- Volunteering in Victoria
- Youth Central
Education and training
- Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority
- Early childhood education – information for professionals
- Kinder: Best Start, Best Life
- Education – information for parents
- Schools.Vic - information for schools
- Education grants, programs, awards and events
- PROTECT
- TAFE, training and universities sector
- TAFE Victoria
- Victorian Skills Authority
- Apprenticeships Victoria
- Learn Local
Environment, water and energy
Finance and economy
Health and social support
- Family violence reform
- NDIS Worker Screening Check
- NDIS and disability services and support in Victoria
- Patient Review Panel
- Transforming Trauma Victoria
Housing and property
Law and justice
- Adoption
- Births, deaths and marriages
- Honorary justices
- Machete ban
- Safeguarding Victorians against terrorism
- Stolen Generations Reparations Package
- Victims of Crime
- Victorian Racing Tribunal
Safety and emergencies
- Emergency Recovery Victoria
- Victorian Emergency Relief and Recovery Foundation
- Emergency Recovery Resource Portal
- How well do you know fire
- Fire Services Reform
- Water safety
- Marine Search and Rescue
Science and technology
- Data sharing and open data
- Data.vic - discover and access Vic Gov open data
- Developer.Vic - portal for API developers
- Go.vic URL shortener
- Vic Gov IT project dashboard
- Victoria’s free public wi-fi network
- Cyber security in the Victorian Government
Sport and recreation
Traffic and transport
- Cameras Save Lives
- Transport Fines
- Getting Around
- Transport Planning
- Transport Future
- Climate Change and transport
- Future Directions For Transport
- Transport projects
- Ports and Freight
Working in the Victorian Government
- Single Digital Presence home
- Accommodation and Library Services
- Executive employment in the Victorian public sector
- Budget, procurement and funding
- Careers in the Victorian Government
- Council and Regulator Toolkit
- Guidelines for working in government
- Join a government network
- Standards and guidelines
- VicFleet CarPool
- Victorian Government style guide